`Phantom` Phenomenon

Musical Takes In $4 Million In Advance Sales

``The Phantom of the Opera`` is proving every bit the box-office phenomenon in Chicago that it has been in London, New York, Los Angeles and Toronto.

Nearly four months before its June 2 opening at the Auditorium Theatre, the blockbuster Andrew Lloyd-Webber musical has racked up an advance sale reportedly between $4 to $6 million, and that by means of group sales, mail orders and telephone charges only-the Auditorium`s in-house box office hasn`t opened yet.

By comparison, ``Les Miserables,`` the previous record-holder, earned only a $7 million advance by its opening day last year. ``Phantom`` will clearly surpass that and set another record.

``It has been extraordinary,`` says Dulcie Gilmore, the Auditorium`s executive director. ``By mid-January, we had received 20,000 mail orders, a phenomenal volume. We doubled the size of our mail room operation and have the box-office staff going at full capacity, some of them working 16-hour days. All of us, including the producers, are delighted.``

Not so happy are some theatergoers, many of whom face an uphill battle in securing tickets. Agents at Ticketron, which replaced the Auditorium`s individual telephone system as part of the efforts to cope with the volume, are telling patrons that all main-floor seats are sold out for the show through Oct. 14, the last day for which tickets are being sold.

Gilmore said that while this is technically true at the moment, that may change in the next few weeks, when some seats set aside in advance for group sales are released. That could mean that main-floor seats for May, June or July will become available then, though the volume is likely to be small.

``No one is trying to pull anything over on any customer,`` Gilmore said. ``What the agent says is true at the time he or she says it. It`s all being done by computer. But to accommodate group sales, blocks of tickets have to be set aside, and when the group sales are finalized, tickets sometimes are freed up.``

In other words, patrons might be advised to hold out and keep checking instead of buying the box seats or balcony seating that are still available?

``I wouldn`t want to suggest that,`` Gilmore said. ``To tell people to keep calling would only cause chaos in an already overworked system. And it would be a gamble. At this rate, who knows what happens if you wait?``

Another option is simply to wait for an extension, which, given the smash success of the show, is inevitable. Reports indicate that neither the producers nor Auditorium officials would be unhappy if the musical stays in place for as long as a year. But no extension has been announced yet.

To allow for proper sight lines, the Auditorium has scaled back the number of seats to be used from 3,996 to 2,415. The high-level gallery and the second balcony will be closed, as well as the rear half of the first balcony. Even so, if every performance for ``Phantom`` is sold out, the Auditorium will bring in an estimated $928,000 a week.

Ironically, because all sales have been via group, mail or phone order, no one has been able to select their seats within their price range. That will be possible only at the box office window, which should be opening in mid-February.

Meanwhile, the non-Andrew Lloyd-Webber ``Phantom,`` had taken in about $700,000 prior to its opening (out of a potential gross of about $900,000) for its eight performances through this weekend in the Chicago Theatre.

- The Miami City Ballet, a fast-rising company since Edward Villella took over as artistic director, will perform Aug. 29-Sept. 1 at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park. The troupe was booked into the Auditorium for a single performance two seasons ago, but withdrew for lack of ticket sales.